But for seasoned citizens who were around back then and paying attention, the similarities to today are becoming both eerie and scary.

Consider:

In the early 1970s the Middle East was a hotly contested part of the world, with Russia (then called the Soviet Union) and the US (backed by Europe) maneuvering for control of the region's oil. Israel was a source of outrage for its neighbors, with war always a real possibility. The Sunni/Shia rift was threatening to tear the Islamic world apart. AND government spending was soaring in the West, leading to highly experimental (read desperate) monetary policy at the Fed.

Now fast forward to this week. Russia and the US are butting heads in Syria. The Sunni/Shia rivalry has become a shooting war between Iranian and Saudi surrogates with the principals not far from joining in. And Israel, after a long stretch away from center stage, is back with a vengeance: